Zero Truth from Ancient India or the Olmecs
Some error in the program that supposedly allows me to present this sonnet in a normal sonnet format is blocking me from doing that. Ignore these forced mistakes in the formatting.
It wasn’t an Islamic scholar who
Formulated that non-number zero.
No matter how much Muslims might want to
Deny that fact, the actual hero, Some ancient, not even slightly linked with
The Arab world, did it. The simple fact
Is pagan, not Islamic. So the myth
That all the world’s indebted to an act
Of Allah-fearing thought is just a pile
Of camel shit. No, wait. That’s far too kind,
Like saying Mohammad knew how to smile.
It’s best to know the truth and not be blind.
..At least the camel turd is stinking real,
….Unlike Islamic lies—which are just spiel.
Should we believe this apparently zenophobic/religiophobic diatribe about numbers from someone who doesn’t seem to know how to count to ten or else doesn’t REALLY care about his own supposedly sacrosanct sonnet form? (hint: Look at line 12 and count to eleven.) And SEE how easy it is for a reader to be snarky as well as this poet.
[Sample dig of a response: since your sonnet puts one in the mood of intolerance. The reader asks: who is this prig?]
Just being a prick in response to such prickiness . . . . My initial reaction. So, let’s see, start a folder for . . . Intolerance? Stereotyping? Calumny? Oh dear. This is NOT going to all be pretty. Is that good? Good for the poetry to be “edgy”? Is there a need for this poet to express all sides of the human experience, including the side most famously expressed by Donald Trump and his allies? Does this make it “real”? Must one write like the current blogosphere, perhaps, to be . . . modish enough? Must one use “colorful” language to seem cool enough? Drop some f bombs and all that?
Just . . . poking back. Can the poker stand being poked in return? Does everything come out uncensored? Do I need a folder labeled “Drivel”? or: “Angry” poems? (But can I find a folder thick enough for those?) Hmmmm.
I’ve corrected the number of syllables in line 12. Thank you for pointing out the error. I know of no rule about sonnetry that says it has to be politically correct. Poetry exists to cause emotion. This one caused the emotion of scorn in you. SUCCESS.
“Your comment is awaiting moderation,” I am told. HA HA! It indeed needs to be more moderate to want to be posted! But then, perhaps the poem needs some moderating also? Let’s see, how do we classify this way of thinking which takes one historical example of something that sets him off and turns it into huge negative generalizations about an entire religion/people/civilization? Really?! Can I have some moderation? Yes!! PLEASE give this some moderation!!
Give me your evidence that I did not use some amount of moderation in composing this sonnet. If the bot that scans answers says it is waiting for someone to do moderation, that is not my fault. I have not instructed it to intervene in any way much less to send out such a response.